Space blog - Entries tagged as nigeria

The road to commissioning NigeriaSat-2 in Abuja

Monday, August 15. 2011

With launch preparations complete, we take a closer look at how the satellite will be commissioned for its future mission. NigeriaSat-2 will be operated by a team of trained NASRDA operations engineers from the recently upgraded ground station in Abuja.

As part of their latest training and development programme, five NASRDA engineers undertook operations training, which will enable them to task, download and process image data, as well as manage day to day satellite operations.

Nigerian engineers in Guildford

For the LEOP (Launch and Early Operations) phase, four SSTL engineers will join the Nigeria operations team in Abuja. LEOP is expected to cover a period of around one week, during which time the satellite will be stablized. Over the following few weeks, engineers will switch on and test each of the spacecraft modules, including the imaging system. This will be an exciting time when we’ll see the first images and operations are handed over to the Nigerian team.

N2 Ground Segment - with 3.7m S band (left) and 7.3m S/X band Antennas.

A period of calibration will commence over 2-3 months before the Nigerian team begin downloading and processing targeted images, which will be used to help manage urban planning, deforestation, water and food resources and support emergency relief campaigns through the Disaster Monitoring Constellation. NigeriaSat-2 image data will also be made available commercially, supporting a sustainable space industry for Nigeria.

Posted by Robin Wolstenholme in Spacecraft operations at 10:19 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

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Rigging NigeriaSat-2 for launch

Wednesday, August 3. 2011

As the launch of NigeriaSat-2 and NigeriaSat-X grows ever closer, the final preparations are underway at the launch site in Yasny, Russia. What does it actually mean to get a satellite ready for take-off? We’ve spoken to Project Manager Andrew Carrel about the work of the mission launch team, who are busy onsite getting the satellites ready to be shot up in space.

Once unpacked from their transit case the mission launch team, consisting of engineers from SSTL and Nigeria’s NASRDA, immediately began a series of meticulous tests to make sure that the satellites had made the journey in good condition and that everything was working as it should. With no problems discovered, the team could then move on to making the final preparations and fittings.

Andrew Carrel said: “When transporting satellites such a long distance, there’s always a risk things will have changed since the tests we made at SSTL before we pack them up. We were pleased to see that everything was working absolutely fine, making the preparation work much more straightforward.”

Packing NigeriaSat-2

The campaign team repeated the tests done at SSTL in the final AIT stage, testing the electrical circuits and making sure that, for example, the solar panels reacted correctly when illuminated. The satellite’s subsystems were then prepared, carefully filling up the propellant and charging the batteries in the power system. Many of these preparations can only be made in the last few days before the launch to make sure the satellite is in optimum condition. This includes removing the so called “red tag” items, such as lens caps and other protective covers, as well as fitting the so called “green tag” items, such as electrical plugs to replace tests cables.

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Posted by Robin Wolstenholme in Launch updates at 15:01 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

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Nigeria completes milestone in space

Wednesday, October 7. 2009

Nigeria's space program has passed another milestone as both the state of the art NigeriaSat-2 and the Nigerian-built NigeriaSat-X (NX) spacecraft passed their Flight Readiness Reviews.

The completion of this review signifies that the two spacecraft are now ready for launch. At the same time, the Launch Services Agreement was signed that will see the two spacecraft launched onboard a Dnepr rocket in Q4 2010.

Nigerian engineer Bosun Yusuf at Rutherford Appleton Laboratories

Sir Martin Sweeting pictured with Nigeria's future space engineers.

Nigeria's future space engineers pictured with Sir Martin Sweeting, Executive Chairman SSTL

Meanwhile, the 26 Nigerian trainees, some of who have spent 3 years at SSTL, have now returned to Nigeria ready to begin operations of their two spacecraft once they launch next year.

Posted by Robin Wolstenholme in In the news at 09:53 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

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Nigerian satellites tested at RAL

Tuesday, August 11. 2009

Nigeria's NigeriaSat-2 and NX earth observation satellites are undergoing tests at the Science and Technology Facilities Council’s (STFC’s) Rutherford Appleton Laboratory.

The two satellites in the SSTD at RAL

NigeriaSat-2 and NX are being built for Nigeria's National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) and will form part of the Disaster Monitoring Constellation (DMC) when they are launched next year.

NigeriaSat-2 was designed and built by Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL), and is based on their latest SSTL-300 earth observation satellite platform will deliver a high-resolution (2.5 metre) imaging system onboard a highly agile platform.

NX, which is based on the SSTL-100 platform was built by Nigerian engineers as part of their training and development scheme at SSTL in Guildford, UK. It will provide 22-metre imaging, enhancing the capability that is currently provided by NigeriaSat-1, which was launched in 2003. These latest satellites will provide not only continuity to Nigeria’s current space capability, but significantly advance the country’s space assets.

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Posted by Robin Wolstenholme in Remote sensing at 11:57 | Comment (1) | Trackbacks (0)

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